Conflicts Called into Question in San Jose Pension Case

The independency of San Jose Retirement Board’s consultant is being questioned by reporters from NBC Bay Area after their investigation revealed emails that show influence between board members and the consultants.

Among the issues revealed in the investigation were an anomoly in the structure of the consultant/board relationship. In most municipalities, the retirement board’s consultant would report directly to the city council, but in San Jose the position reports to the City Manager. In 2009, suggestions were made by various consultants to adjust the structure of the relationships, but those changes have not been fully implemented. According to a statement by the City Manager, changes are underway.

Also, it was discovered that the independent actuary received direction on what information to include or exclude from at least one presentation. One slide, in particular, would have shown a 25 year projection. Instead, the final version left off the extended outlook. From NBC Bay Area:

Conflict of interest?

That’s the question some officials are asking about San Jose’s pension system after seeing internal city documents uncovered by the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit.

Now we examine the possible influence city officials have had on what’s supposed to be independent information.